How colour analysis can change your life

Don’t know your season yet? I have some tips for you

You might not be at the point where you want a colour analysis session, but you have an interest in colour analysis. If you don’t know your season, what can you do? Here are six things you can try.

1. Switch up your mascara
Most people wear black mascara, and most people don’t look good in it. Try switching to navy or brown. When I say navy I don’t mean the electric blue mascara of the ’80s. Nope! Try the No7 Intense Volume navy mascara. Navy suits Winters, Summers and Springs. If you try it and don’t love it, try brown instead, which works for Springs, Autumns and the cool-neutral Summers. When I say brown I mean a proper brown, (not brown/black, which works best for Dark Winters and Dark Autumns).

If, when you apply your new mascara, you suddenly notice your eyes and not your eye makeup, you know you’re on the right track. I was astounded at how much of a difference it made to my face when I switched my black mascara to navy.

2. Embrace true red
True red suits everyone. No, really! Most people who come to me for a colour analysis session seem intimidated by red, and I do understand why. There’s no ignoring it.

A true red t-shirt by Kettlewell Colours

Absolutely everyone looks amazing in it though (I’m really not exaggerating), especially when they’re wearing true red and have on a matching true red lippy. Buy an inexpensive true red scarf if you’re nervous, and whilst wearing it try a matching lippy when you’re next near a make-up counter. And, if you do that, send me a photo! I’d love to see how amazing you look. True red is my favourite colour because everyone looks good in it.

Why does true red suit everyone? Because it doesn’t contain blue or yellow, the two colours that, when added to a colour, change its temperature.

3. Fall in love with tealTeal is another colour that suits everyone because it has (nigh on) equal amounts of yellow and blue in it. When I say teal, this is the colour I mean…

The mid-cascade wrap in ‘Mallard’ by Kettlewell Colours

Kettlewell Colours call it ‘Mallard’. Buying a scarf in this colour would be a cheap way of trying it out. You can’t go wrong with teal. If you fancy being a bit daring, try a teal eyeliner (and report back ;-))!

4. Avoid black
I know it’s hard, I do. Black is everywhere. Having said that, navy is almost as easy to get hold of. Swapping black for navy will be a dramatic improvement for the vast majority of people.

If you’ve dyed your hair, notice how it makes your face look. Does the jet black hair make you look pale and washed out? Do you look a bit sickly in a warm, brassy blonde? Is it time to consider dying it back to your natural colour? Once you know your season, you can afford to be bold.

6. Wear your favourite colours
This one might surprise you, but here’s the thing: often, when people show up to a colour analysis session they say to me ‘Please don’t tell me I can’t wear X’. With the exception of black (which people generally love because it’s easy and considered sophisticated), when someone turns up with a favourite colour that they don’t want to be parted from, it ends up being in their palette, and one of their best colours, too. Our instincts are surprisingly good.

What doesn’t workTrying to figure out whether you have cool or warm undertones from your foundation is almost certainly doomed to fail. Reading into your jewellery colour preference is too risky. I know plenty of Winters who love gold jewellery, and even more women who are wearing the wrong foundation colour.